Why can't you just get somebody to build your homebuilt plane for you?

and even more interesting lack of answers

Hmm. Does does answers count?

@Peter wrote:- Metal is a lot more suitable for homebuilding.
You are entitled to your opinion the French homebuilders would probably disagree with this.
The Robin glue issues were 2 separate issues over the period of time referred to.
On the other hand there are many Robin’s built in the 50’s 60’s and 70’s that are still happily flying now whilst many metal aircraft are changing spars due to corrosion. We have many Robins round here of those eras but still look as if they were built last year. Most with very few problems over the years.
But as I say this is not the thread nor my intention to promote Robin aircraft.
I quite understand people sticking up for their own choice of aircraft. After all that’s why you chose it. If you chose to build it and maintain it as well, even better.
I have been involved in the building of several aircraft and loved every minute. Everything from an adapted 3/4 scale De Havilland Mosquito at one end to a tiny.Nicolier Ménestral at the other end of the scale. And not only in wood I have been involved in building a kit built composite MCR4S and Cozy an all metal CRI CRI. All great fun to be involved in building ( I would not build one on my own) . All great fun to fly afterwards. In a mezzanine of the aeroclub of Lorient I remember a father and son ordering up €6500 worth of Oregon pine to build a Bilouis from plans bought for €500 from Louis Pena (I believe @ johnh knows him well) a 2 seater aerobatic aircraft and I also remember an aerobatic demo of his Joker.
The wonderful thing about building.your own aircraft is the range of plans and kits available.
Vans is just one of them.
The great thing about ga these days is the choice of flying machines available to suit what we want from it.

gallois wrote:

On the other hand there are many Robin’s built in the 50’s 60’s and 70’s that are still happily flying now

I’m sure you are referring to Jodels here, and those are indeed great aeroplanes. One caveat though: those from 50s and early 60s were built with caseine glue. Folks just don’t appreciate the risks involved.

@Peter wrote:- Metal is a lot more suitable for homebuilding.

One thing is sure: metal kits with factory pre-drilled rivet holes allow homebuilder to perfectly re-create aircraft’s geometry, as intended by its inventor.

Oh dear the same old myths propagated time after time.
I’ve flown DR aircraft for around 40 years now.
One DR 100 built in 1959 I still fly today, once in a while but a friend flies it every week.
Maybe I’ve been fortunate but the biggest mechanical/well actually electrical problem I have had in around 1000hrs in them has been a voltage regulator or to be more precise a short piece of wire in a DR360 which caused a flat battery. As I was in Jersey at the time and maitenance couldn’t find the problem we just recharged the battery. Our maintenance found the problem in 2 minutes and repaired it for less than 50cents in parts.
When RVs have been around that length of time then we can perhaps debate whether “folks just don’t appreciate the risks involved” your words @RV14.
BTW casin glue was used on WW1 aircraft and on many aircraft since. Not.done too bad has it?

RVs have been around since about 1972, about 50 years and while there were once some structural issues (on RV3s) those are long in the past.

@Peter in the US market where RVs are built in greatest quantity there is little issue with time versus money for the typical builders of these planes. It is true that many are built by people in let’s say their 50s or early 60s but they have both time and money in the required degree and more importantly build them because they want to do so, and enjoy it, as opposed to it being a burden. They are looking for a project and can fund it, especially since the resale is good so it’s not a bad place to put money.

The market is well established and exists, it’s not something that needs to be conjectured upon at this point.

@Peter AFAIK there is no homebuilt Robins. The DR 100 was based on the 4 seat D10 a Jodel which its creators Delmontez and Joly put aside to work on the D11 for which there was a much greater requirement in 1957.
Perhaps instead of saying I could buy a new or nearly new IFR equipped Robin for less than I can buy a pre owned and already flown RV according to recent ads on Planecheck IiRC I posted at the time that 1 (can’t remember RV what) on sale for around €350,000.
Perhaps I should have saved myself some grief and written that I could get a pretty well equipped pre owned TB20 for that sort of money.

Peter wrote:

Are there homebuilt Robin kits today?

I think the only Robin available from plans is the DR.1050, which was the 1958 ‘bridge’ aircraft between Jodel and Robin. Otherwise, all other Robins are factory-only.

Jodels are from plans, built by amateurs as well as under licence by several factories (one of which was Robin).

There is also the Oceanair from plans which uses a DR400 fuselage, but it isn’t a Robin.

None of these are kits, and you have to source and quality-contol your own parts, including wood (sitka, makoumé, etc)

I can buy a pre owned and already flown RV according to recent ads on Planecheck IiRC I posted at the time that 1 (can’t remember RV what) on sale for around €350,000

Typical prices for used RV two-seaters are 75-150K, depending on model. The RV-10 four seaters cost more to build and sell for more used but I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of one selling for that anything like that amount.